Sunday, December 27, 2015

Homeland: Well that was two straight seasons with kind of subdued finales. Last year was all about Carrie's father's funeral and this season Carrie foils the terrorists plot in the first act. I figured the rest of the episode would focus on catching Allison but there were a lot of scene inter-spliced with Carrie's boss weirdly coming on to her (I think?) the whole Quinnn thing and when they finally got back to Allison, they just sprayed the car like a mobster movie which left me thinking, wait was that actually Allison in the trunk, maybe I miss saw and it was really just one of the human trafficking girls from the house. But I re-watched that see, paused and zoomed it and am pretty sure that was Allison. Maybe a season of getting Allison out of Russia would have been a good set up. Oh well. So what is next, will next season be Carrie married to Otto still in Berlin or is she going to change her mind and take Saul up on his offer and we will be in another war zone next year?

The Affair: When Noah came up as the focus of Act 1, I thought, well he probably did not kill Scotty and it will end up whoever is the focus of Act II. Except at the end of Act I, we see a drunken Helen run over Scotty after Noah made her take the wheel. Well that explains why she paid for his high powered lawyer. Then the lawyer of all people ended up spoiling the surprise twist by suggesting to Noah that they should float the idea in court that Alison pushed Scotty in from of the car. Then I though, oh, that is extremely plausible. And of course that turned out to be what happened. So Noah is left to decide whether to let his wife or the mother of his child take the rap, of course he takes option three and falls on the sword. Not that I think he will spend much time in jail. I do not think the Scotty case is closed and season three will end with someone else taking the fall. But what I do not understand is the whole Alison's baby daddy situation. They spent half the season teasing Scotty was the father and that was the big news he had over Alison. But it turns out Cole is the father but does not know. But if Scotty, who did not seem like the smartest man on Earth, can figure this out how has Cole not? Can Cole not count nine months? It never really accorded to me because they do plenty of time jumping between episodes so it was unclear where they are in the timeline any given episode but how does Cole not learn when Alison is pregnant not do the math? I have had issues with the show from the beginning, but I an still intrigued where the show goes next.

The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines: Three weeks ago there were three crazy Brazilians on my television screen, and now there are none. Hurumph. Yeah, this format sucks massively. They they even messed up the best challenge of the season by not having everyone participate in trivia instead having half the people answers questions (I am too lazy to go back and rewatch but Nany's cousin got some of the easiest questions in the history of the show) the the dumbest people did not even get a chance to show the world how dumb they are. But as much as the show is trying to ruin the format, the competitor are giving a valiant effort at acting crazy. And things do not get much crazier than Abram and his head tattoo (even more socking than Abram's arrival: his brother looks and acts like everyone's tax guy). Knowing CT and Zach are coming at some point, is it too easy to predict that Abram literally kills the guy Cara Maria has been hooking up with and that is why we need two new bloodlines?
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines on iTunes.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

The Librarians: You would think it would get old quick, but Groundhog Day type episodes are always a high point of any series that can pull it off. Though I thought the episode turning out to being a video game instead did not add much to the story and actually drug the episode down after that reveal.
You can download The Librarians on iTunes.

Homeland: I am not sure who was more dumb this episode, whoever left the cell phone dude alone in a room with a window to jump out of, Allison's escort who gave someone suggested of treason his firearm, or Saul, who after left the room long enough for the terror suspect to jump out a window, to leave Allison alone in the operating room. Sadly I believe there are people in our intelligence agencies to do stupid stuff like this. So now we are down to one episode left, does Carrie get to the bomb in time (okay this is an easy answer, they are not going to blow up the star unless someone gives her the antidote that they gave Quinn) and does Saul find Allison before she make it to Russian soil?

The Affair: Bombshell in the courtroom, hedge fund douchebag says under oath that Noah was washing off blood in his driveway. I doubt someone that rich would lie under oath over bad feelings that happened this week. That is not to say Noah killed Scotty, it could have very well have been Allison and Noah cleaning up the mess. Or a silly red herring and Noah hit a deer even though there is no reason to clean deer blood off your car in the middle of the night. Then Cole became officially engaged this week, does that mean we will actually see the wedding next week? I wonder if they will stick to the two act structure or split it up like the hurricane episode. I kind of hope they devote the whole episode, or the very least one act, to Scotty's point of view to see what he has been up to all season. The hinted twice this season that he is the real father of Allison's kid, it would be weird if we do not actually see that affair consummated.

Quantico: Weren't we promised the identity of the bomber this episode? All we got was the gay dude admitting he was blackmailed into helping and some reveal about the FBI's head's son almost blowing himself up earlier in life, but that certainly is no smoking gun. But at least the episode gave me a good laugh at the thought of Ben Carson being at a New Years Eve party thrown by a sitting Democratic Senator. Still not even in the top ten least believable thing the show has done this season.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Supergirl: A hacking scandal on Supergirl... well that was kind of awkward. But anyway. After the great reveal of Martian Manhunter last week, the midseason finale was a big letdown. What a horrible ending. I thought after Supergirl and Non went after each other I thought we would get a resolution after a commercial break, except after the break there was a promo for NCIS, not even one for Supergirl or even a "Supergirl returns with new episodes..." tag. But I guess the only big new of the winter finale was Cat finally figuring out her assistant was Supergirl. Sure how she came to the realization (no way a human could have heard that conversation!) was silly and she still needed Kara to take off her glasses for confiermation, but silly is what the show does best.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Survivor: Second Chances: We had our very first no vote ever in the history of Survivor!!! Still, even after Probst explained the rules via a telestrator during the commercial break, I am still a little confused with what happened. And once again we has someone overplaying their hand, Kimmi just spent way too much time with Kelley and Keith. Still another great moment in what you have to put into the discussion of greatest ever. Unfortunately that was the last great moment of the season as the last two Tribals went as expected and Jeremy won in a blowout. Shame Kelley did not win that last Tribal because I would have liked to see that vote. It is a shame Probst did not do his usual, let's revote to see if you made the wrong decision because I wold like to see if Kelley had a chance. You would think Abi Maria, Cierra, and Kass would likely vote for her, maybe Keith, Kimmi, and Spencer (though I think his I will do whatever it takes for Kelley to win was just a ploy to get Jeremy to take him to the finale).

Speaking of Spencer I did find it interesting he did say he stopped watching because he kept second guessing himself as to if he should have taken out Jeremy. Of course, not taking out Jeremy / Tasha instead of sending Abi Maria to the jury was stupid. Going up against Abi Maria and Keith would have been a slam dunk. Oh well, on to the next one with a return of Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty. Awesome. I loved this concept unfortunately the first time they did it was one of the worst cast season's in the history of Survivor. Hopefully they did a better time next time around even though the promo looks like half the cast get pulled from the game due to injury. But I am a little more excited for next fall, is it too soon for Survivor: Third Chances? You have everyone in the cast is available sans Jeremy. Then the only way to make the Witches Coven better would be to add Kat (or their first male member Phillip). You can also reunite original castmates Gervase, Sue, and Kelly (but she can only return if she promises not to pull out that stupid pick a number way of voting), from the second season, Kimmi and Alicia can go head to head again (maybe Survivor can rip off The Challenge and have a Rivals season) one of my personal favorites Andrea, Erik the Ice Cream scoopper deserves a third chance after being pulled from the game last time, and who would not want to see Francesca get booted first for the third time?
You can download Survivor: Second Chance on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines: Since I wanted to finish all the Winter Finales (ugg) of all the fall shows before starting something new, I was did not start the new season until this week but it was worth the wait. It is so nice to have drunk Nany and crazy Camilla back in my life. The show continued its trading ideas with Survivor and stole its Blood vs. Water concept for Bloodline. But at least The Challenge is actual blood, no wives or boyfriends. Okay there is one adopted dude and I am a bid suspicious of some "cousins" while Camilla's sister lacks a Brazilian accent like Camilla and Abi Maria. The season started out strong with a deceptively great challenge with the mud hill. First it is always great to incorporate mud into a challenge, with the running water going into the dirt it made it harder to go up the hill, and of course anything physical where you have to fight for a spot is always great.

Unfortunately with all the great personalities, just in the first three episodes you had Nany and Camilla going H.A.M. as you would expect, and two bothers getting into a fight while two cousin hurled the worst insults on the show since Frank brought up gay porn and Nany's drug addled sister (how was she not here) the show is ruining this season will a really poor format. They start off putting co-ed teams in a severe disadvantage meaning they could be eligible for both male and female elimination week. Compounding this Jill goes into elimination despite eating more bugs than Jenna's cousin and Aneesa just because her cousin is a dude on a male elimination week.

And the new teams this week may not be much better. It is silly to have a bloodline go home just because their relative lost a challenge. Why change that format at all? They should have just kept the two person teams and had no co-ed (or all co-ed) teams. Or just go full Survivor and anyone can be up for elimination. Way to be stuck in the 20th century MTV by still separating the genders. I was also going to make fun of Cara Maria for managing to build a horrible team, but she actually won that first challenge and may lose her weakest teammate in the first team elimination. And if Tony goes home for turning the color of The Grinch just in time for Christmas and she can replace him with CT who we know is showing up sometime this season, she just may end up going from an embarrassingly bad team to a pretty strong one.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines on iTunes.

Childhood's End: I kind of like Syfy's annual pre-Christmas miniseries event, just as everything goes on hiatus, here is something to watch during the holidays. I still have the last two hours to go, but this one is at the very least better than last year's attempt whose name I already forgot.
You can download Childhood's End on iTunes.

Friday, December 18, 2015

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, After Hours, The Breaks, The Wonder Years, Paris Terror Attack: Charlie Hebdo, Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, Million Dollar American Princesses, East Los High, and TNT pick ups and renewals.

- Today, Showtime has greenlit a groundbreaking new political series The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, produced in cooperation with Bloomberg Politics and featuring Bloomberg Politics managing editors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann (co-authors of the New York Times best-sellers Game Change and Double Down, and co-hosts of the nightly political show "With All Due Respect" on Bloomberg Television) and noted campaign strategist and media advisor Mark McKinnon. The real-time documentary series will pull back the curtain on the 2016 presidential race, revealing the intense, irreverent, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines of what promises to be one of the most fascinating and consequential elections in modern history. Premiering in January 2016, in advance of the Iowa caucuses, The Circus will deliver the stories as they are happening and examine what really goes on behind the carefully constructed facade of a presidential campaign in real time. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President, Showtime Networks Inc. The Circus will follow multiple individual stories and key characters from the campaigns and capture their unique perspectives in weekly half-hour shows between January and November. With intimate, behind-the-scenes access, cameras will offer viewers a look at what the public rarely sees and explore the high human drama inherent in the pursuit of the Oval Office.

- The big day is almost upon us, the new Star Wars movie will finally hit theaters on Friday – which means we have ahead of us five glorious days of the best Star Wars content the internet can produce. The creative team at Cracked.com are starting the week off strong with a special themed episode of their Webby Award winning series After Hours, “Why the Jedi Are the Galaxy’s Biggest Idiots.” As always with After Hours, the hosts take something from pop culture they love and have a dynamic and hilarious conversation that re-contextualizes everything. In the new episode, the After Hours gang explains why the Jedi are actually terrible at their jobs. The After Hours “Star Wars” episode can be found at here.

- VH1’s new scripted movie The Breaks chronicles three friends (Mack Wilds, Afton Williamson and David Call) united by their love of hip-hop, as they work to make their big mark in the music industry. Premiering on Monday, January 4th, 2016, “The Breaks” takes viewers back to the summer of 1990 in New York City where the music industry’s artists and hustlers intersect in the dance clubs and the street corners of the city. They discover lives can be broken as fast as legends can be born. VH1’s “The Breaks,” is based on journalist Dan Charnas’ book “The Big Payback,” a narrative history of the hip-hop business. “The Breaks” cast is led by Afton Williamson (Banshee, Pariah, Man on a Ledge) and reunites “The Wire” favorites Wood Harris (Remember The Titans, Paid in Full) and Mack Wilds (90210) along with writer, director and executive producer Seith Mann (The Wire, The Walking Dead and Homeland). Newcomers David Call (Gossip Girl) along with Antoine Harris (HBO’s series Ballers and Starz’s Power), Evan Handler (Californication, Sex & The City), Russell Hornsby (Grimm, Lincoln Heights) and rapper Method Man round out the cast. “The Breaks” is scored and executive music produced by DJ Premier. “The Breaks” First Look

- For six Emmy Award®-winning seasons, The Wonder Years on ABC captured the angst of growing up in suburban middle-class America in the late '60s, as seen through the life and times of Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage). Audiences eagerly followed his evolution as a typical awkward teenager who remembered every moment of his transition from childhood with excruciating detail and remarkable hindsight. Specially-Produced Bonus Features and More Than Three Dozen Songs as Featured in the Original Broadcast, Including Classics from Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Beach Boys, The Who, Hank Williams and Many Others! Street Date: January 12, 2015.

- On Wednesday, January 7, 2015, ten months before the brutal terrorist attacks that killed 130 people in Paris, two radicalized Islamist brothers, Said and Chérif Kouachi, burst into the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, where the publication’s weekly editorial meeting was drawing to a close. The brothers murdered a total of 11 people at the offices: cartoonists, journalists, a bodyguard and a janitor. They then murdered a 12th – a Muslim police officer – in the chase that followed. One year after the attack, Paris Terror Attack: Charlie Hebdo, premieres on Monday, January 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel. It follows, hour by hour, the event that foreshadowed the worst terrorist attack in France in over 50 years.

- Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, the critically acclaimed new film from writer/director Stephen Cone (The Wise Kids), will open in New York at the IFP's Made in NY Media Center on January 8th, before expanding to additional markets and VOD platforms. The film focuses on a young boy coming to terms with his sexuality during his emotionally charged birthday party. Marking his feature film debut, Cole Doman plays Henry; Henry is turning 17, and Henry might be gay. But he’s not telling his pastor father (Pat Healy, Cheap Thrills, Compliance)—not during his pool party, where school and church collide in a sunny, hormonal afternoon. This funny, heartbreakingly honest portrait from Stephen Cone finds a home between devout faith and burgeoning sexuality. Trailer

- Oscar®, Golden Globe® and Emmy® nominee Elizabeth McGovern returns to host the second season of Smithsonian Channel’s Million Dollar American Princesses, the acclaimed series whose first season chronicled the fascinating in-depth stories of real-life American heiresses who inspired the TV drama Downton Abbey. Premiering on Sunday, January 3 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, the new season picks up the story in a tumultuous era in which women’s lives and expectations are completely transformed.

- TNT has added two new original dramas to its 2016 slate. Good Behavior, starring Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) and Argentine-Spanish actor Juan Diego Botto (1492: Conquest of Paradise, El Greco) in an adaptation of the Letty Dobesh novels by Wayward Pines author Blake Crouch. Also getting the greenlight is Animal Kingdom, starring Emmy® and Tony® winner Ellen Barkin (Sea of Love, This Boy's Life, Oceans 13) as the matriarch of a Southern California family whose excessive lifestyle is fueled by their criminal activities, with Scott Speedman (The Strangers, The Vow) as her second in command. Shawn Hatosy (Southland, Reckless), Ben Robson (Vikings, Dracula: The Dark Prince), Jake Weary (Pretty Little Liars, It Follows), Finn Cole (Peaky Blinders, An Inspector Calls), Daniella Alonso (Revolution) and Molly Gordon (Love the Coopers, Ithaca) also star.

- This week it was announced Hulu Original East Los High has been picked up for a fourth season.

- TNT has renewed the hit fantasy-adventure The Librarians and the gripping crime dramas Major Crimes and Murder in the First. The Librarians is in the midst of its second season, airing Sundays at 8:00, with the season finale set for Dec. 27. Major Crimes is currently airing Monday nights at 9:00 through Dec. 21 and will return with more episodes to round out its fourth season in February 2016. Murder in the First completed it second dynamic season this past summer. TNT has ordered 10 episodes for the third season of The Librarians, which is set to air in fall 2016; 13 episodes for the fifth season of Major Crimes, scheduled to begin in summer 2016; and 10 episodes for the third season of Murder in the First, also slated for summer.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Once Upon a Time: Oh my goodness, they actually killed Hook! His puppy dog love affair with Emma may be at the top of the list of why this show has sucked for a couple seasons now. They even killed Neil, a much more interesting character, just to make it easier for Hook and Swan to get together. Oh wait after the commercial break Emma made her plan known of going to the Underworld to bring him back by giving him half her heart. What!?! This show is so stupid, just cancel it now and replace it with Galavant full time. And the promo make it look like the Underworld is not the one from Hercules but just Storybrooke with a filter on the camera. Ugg.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: I found Allison's excuse last week a little flimsy, but saying she ran it past the dearly departed David Estes makes it a little more plausible. But still, Estes not even telling his supervisor at the time is a little thin. But this week's hunt for Quinn was not excited as last week's episode because it seemed pretty obvious that Carrie would end up finding him. And it was pretty convenient that she found the terrorist nest after everyone left.

The Affair: We have not seen too many overlapping scenes this season but it was kind of odd how different this one was this week where both Allison and Noah thought they had made dinner the other missed. Also an interesting choice to basically have the first act be a bottle episode with Noah in the therapist office. Granted the part I spent the most time focusing on was Noah talking about seeing Captain America. I have spent most of this season when the future segments happened but now I am beginning to wonder when the main timeline is happening. Is the main timeline happening in the past? If so was Noah talking about the first one, which was released in 2011, the sequel, which came out last year? Would this mean the future on the show is present day? Or maybe the current timeline is in the future, they jumped about a year this episode, and he is talking about next year's Captain America movie. Now I am going to start obsessing about every little thing trying to figure out when the show is taking place.

Quantico: So Asher came up with the plan to plant the bomb at Grand Central Station but never intended to implement it and someone else found that plan and used it. Alrighty. Well if the promo monkeys are to be believed we will learn who actually did it during the winter finale (ugg). I predicted Shelby did it back when the show premiered but now I am leaning toward Jacob from Lost. Which would be a cop out because they billed the show as Alex got sold out by some in her class.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Supergirl: Oh you sneaky writers. With a character named Hank Henshaw you had to think he was going to be Cyborg Superman behind those red eye. But it turns out the real Hank is dead and Martian Manhunter took over his identity (on a side note, I would be a little worried if I were that actor learning my character died prior to the show and the guy I am playing is a shape shifter who presumably take another form next season; but then again, the real Hank is probably off turning himself into a Cyborg and may play two characters next season). Of course his over the top anti-alien rhetoric was a bit much in the premiere make a little less sense now. And though we the viewers know Martian Manhunter is a good guy, Kara's sister should probably be very skeptical of him, maybe more so now. And is it safe to assume the one other person who knows his true identity is Superman? And does that mean we are going to get a version of the Justice League at some point. Granted if there is a team up there probably will not be anyone of the charter members because DC will want to keep them off the small screen. The show really could not do a variant of Teen Titans because TNT is developing that property. So with the properties the show will have available to them, the Justice League may just be Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, a reprogrammed Red Tornado, The Wonder Twins, Plastic Man, and Apache Chief.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

The Voice: All I wanted was either Amy Vachal or Madi Davis in the finals. I am not greedy, just one of them, I did not need both in. But do you know who is greedy, bored housewives and country fans who had to fill the finale with boring white dude balladeers and country singer, and of course one country singing boring white dude. A lot of people complained about the massive cut from nine to three with one Twitter Save, but it did work. I watched the semi-finals for the first time since season three because Amy and Madi made it that far. Had they done the double elimination like previous season, they may have both been gone before we lost one country singer.

But the producers should know there is a better way to keep viewers from bailing than string fans around fora month only to break everyone heart who is not a country fan or bored housewife in one fell swoop and they can do it in one of two ways. The first is something I doubt they would ever do because they clearly give these coaches complete free will no matter how dumb their decisions are, but they should sit down the coaches and tell them they are setting a hard quota to make sure the top 12 is a diverse group of different musical styles and for goodness sake Blake, no more all country teams again.

But since they will never tell the coaches what to do despite the coaches having multi-millions of reasons to do what they are told to do, the other fix is really easy. Change how we can vote. Right now you can vote for as many people as you want ten time, so if out are a country fan, you are probably just going to vote for all four country singers. And then you have cases like Braiden Sunshine who is no one's favorite but is enough people's fourth or fifth favorite to make it to the semi-finals. That has to stop, they need to change the rule so each round you have ten votes total. Put all ten on your favorites or divide them among your two to five favorites. Of course instead of doing this, the show will probably just switch the schedule next season to just eliminate one per week again but will end with an eight person finale.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Oh my goodness, they actually killed Ward! It came a season too late but they finally did it. Oh wait after the commercial break zombie Ward is standing in the street. What the frack!?! That is trice this week ABC killed someone just to be surprise, the character is sticking around! I guess we are to assume that is the Inhuman god thing that shape shifted into Ward. Pretty convenient to make it into a shape shifter all of the sudden. Why he was hanging out in the astronaut's bomb shelter was a little silly.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Survivor: Second Chances: Mostly a filler episode like these late season episodes tend to be until a really bad ending when Tasha co-opted Joe's let's vote out the person everyone want to sit next at the end pitch and somehow was able to get Jeremy, Kimmi and even Spencer on board. Well at least Abi Maria made the jury. But the most interesting part came in the credit when Probst saying something that has never happened in thirty-one season is going down in the season finale. Are we going to have our very first tie at Final Tribal? What exactly is the tie breaker for that? Building fire would be a silly way to determine who gets one million dollars.
You can download Survivor: Second Chance on iTunes.

Friday, December 11, 2015

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on The Path, Conan, Showtime Boxing, Homeland, The Affair, and Telemondo.

- We’re excited to announce the Hulu Original The Path will premiere on March 30, 2016. The Path follows a family at the center of a controversial cult as they struggle with relationships, faith and power. Each episode takes an in-depth look at the gravitational pull of belief and what it means to choose between the life we live and the life we want. The series comes to Hulu from Universal Television and Jason Katims’ True Jack Productions and was created by Jessica Goldberg who will write and executive-produce the series, along with Katims and Michelle Lee of True Jack Productions. The 10-episode series stars Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan, Hugh Dancy, and Rockmond Dunbar.

- The Force will be with TBS this month when the late-night series Conan welcomes the cast of the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie, along with director J.J. Abrams will all join host Conan O'Brien on Thursday, Dec. 17, at 11 p.m. (ET/PT) for what's certain to be a blockbuster show.

- For the first time ever, a boxing match has been released in its entirety in 360 degree immersive virtual reality, as Showtime captured the shocking first round TKO from Saturday night’s main event between WBA Middleweight World Champion Daniel Jacobs’ and previously undefeated challenger Peter Quillin. The all-Brooklyn main event has been made available in 360 video from ring-side, giving fans an unprecedented boxing experience. The virtual reality video engrosses viewers in the matchup of the top middleweights, facing off in the prime of their career, where Brooklyn’s Jacobs (31-1, 28 KOs) won the “Battle For Brooklyn.” The 360 footage is viewable on the Showtime Sports’ YouTube channel*, the Showtime Boxing Facebook page, on the Samsung Gear VR via the MILK VR app and Littlestar VR apps for Samsung Gear VR, iOS and Android.

- In advance of the final two episodes of the current seasons of its hit fall drama series, Showtime has picked up a sixth season of Homeland and ordered a third season of The Affair. Showtime currently has the top two rated scripted series on premium television in the fourth quarter, with Homeland and The Affair (ranked based on Live+SD, L+3 and L+7 ratings). Homeland season five stars Emmy®, Screen Actors Guild® and Golden Globe® Award winner Claire Danes, Emmy nominee Rupert Friend and Emmy and Tony® winner Mandy Patinkin. The Affair season two stars Golden Globe nominee Dominic West, Golden Globe winner Ruth Wilson, Emmy Award nominee Maura Tierney and Screen Actors Guild nominee Joshua Jackson. Both series air on Sunday nights starting at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime.

- A new national poll released this week by Telemundo, MSNBC and the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion finds that in a hypothetical match-up for the Presidential elections, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 52%, leads businessman Donald Trump, 41%, by double digits and is ahead of Texas Senator Ted Cruz by seven points, 51% for Clinton to 44% for Cruz. However, the race tightens when Clinton is matched against former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Clinton edges Bush by four points, Rubio by three points, and she is in a virtual tie with Carson. The poll also finds that all of the mentioned Republicans candidates, except Trump, are getting a greater proportion of Latino voters than either Romney or McCain did in their presidential bids against Obama.

Monday, December 07, 2015

Well crap, we finally had a chance to get rid of Braiden and Korin had to go and forget the lyrics (and yet still almost beat him). If I were Korin, I would have spent more time last week practicing my Save Me song than the one on Monday. Well only one more week of Braiden, no way he survives the five person cut next week. I thought it was a pretty meh week yet surprisingly seven of the ten made the top 10 on iTunes. I wonder how many of them will at this time next week will have wished they saved that song for the big cut instead during a week when Korin and Braiden were clearly in the bottom. It seem like Amy was the only one who took it easy this week (and yet still managed to make the top ten). At least I hope that was the case, saving a great song for next week, and Adam has not officially run out of ideas, thinking turning a cheesy teen pop song kiss off into some moody goodbye.

Prediction time, this season seems pretty hard to predict as everyone but Braiden seem pretty close and it will come down to song selection (you are definitely going to get in the top 10 tomorrow to be saved by America after last week) and maybe even performance order. The last three weeks someone who performed in the first hour has entered the top 25 on iTunes before the show has even ended on their way to the top 10. When only one person is going home with obvious fodder at the bottom it does not matter, but when it is close, you are losing about 70,000 votes. Twice it has happened Amy who has yet to perform in the 9:00 hour. Does she finally get to perform late? Does Madi get to perform late again since she is the only Pharrell member left? Does Jordan get to go last again despite being the only lock for the final? I think one of Blake's team is the only other lock to get saved by America. That leaves Amy, Madi, Jeffery, and Blake's other country singer fighting to get the last spot. So I am going to predict that Jordan, Barrett, Emily Ann get saved by America while Amy picks up the Twitter Save after singing Maroon 5's Sunday Morning because everyone will probably be singing a Maroon 5 next week. As for my Power Rankings:

Sunday, December 06, 2015

Once Upon a Time: So Emma stole everyone's memory because she stole Captain Hook's memory and wanted everyone to forget she turned him into a Dark One and stole his because his big master-plan was to resurrect all the Dark Ones. I hate this show. When Captain Hook was going to open the gates to the Underworld I actually was kind of hoping the show was going to exploited Hercules next and go hang out with Hades.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: What a great episode. The whole trying to entrap Allison was just gripping. First time fails as she just has sex with a dude instead of panicking. And then there is a great spy vs. spy stuff when she actually does run. But I was a bit disappointed in the ending when Allison whispers in the Russian's ear and I am thinking it is some great plan only for her to say he was her asset this whole time which I really do not think anyone should buy. She has a high ranking Russian mole that she has never told anyone about before? I really hope that Dar (or the writers think Dar) is that stupid. She is going to need more than that to get out of this.As for the other half of the episode, I am beginning to tire of the Quinn story line.

The Walking Dead: Oh Carl, kill that kid... and his brother. Then I do not sure who is more stupid fighting to the death over the captured Wolf: Carol or Morgan. Know you both are knocked out and he is set free. The show usually does premieres and finales the best but this may have been the worst of any of them since the farm season. Hopefully Negan is as great as message board commentator say. The Governor certainly was not.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Affair: This is the third time this season I spent the episode we would get to spend an entire act with the daughter. The first time was when she showed up drunk to the guest house, then when she showed up drunk to the Lockhart's Thanksgiving, and now with she drunkenly making out with another chick in a hot tub while her naked father watched inches away. Since the switched up the format this week, can we please get an episode dedicated to what she has been up to this season? Oooh, maybe that is the season finale: we follow drunk daughter through this season and ends with her drunk driving into Scotty.

Into the Badlands: The plot is still thin and silly but, hey, it is still visually cool. And that has to be the first wheelchair fight ever on television. Well, unless you count the cripple fight on South Park.
You can download Into the Badlands on iTunes.

Gotham: What a bizarrely awesome assortment of people going after Galavan. Thankfully Lucius finally was able to fix the computer two months later to join them to point out how silly it all was. Seriously, a fifteen year old girl took out an armed guard with a kick. Then Tigress's great escape was great, pushing her niece out the window only to just out later only to reveal they both had parachute gliders. But I did call Silver would be the one who saved Bruce (somewhat, she basically just stalled long enough for the ragtag gang to show up). I was a bit surprised that Jim was the one who killed Galavan, I thought he would just walk away and let Penguin do what he wanted. And how did the body end up in the morgue? How about dropping the body in the river to get rid of the evidence. Now Dr. Strange has control of the body for whatever reason along with a not so subtle glimpse at Fish Mooney in one of the tanks. I did not recognize anyone else in the tanks that could hint at who is next, I will have to check the internet nerd who are smarter than me to see if I missed something. Though I definitely recognized Mr. Freeze at the end.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Supergirl: Yeah, Maxwell Lord is definitely going to hook up with Kara's sister. Kind of a meh episode aside from the Landry Clarke's father sighting. I wonder now that he is free from his creator if Red Tornado will gain free will and start fighting for good or if this was a one off episode for him.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I was shocked when the episode started with Coulson having a dinner date with Roz after learning last week she was working with Hydra, even if that was inadvertently. But being a show with Joss Whedon on it, having a happy couple means one of them had to die. And of course this drives Coulaon to skydive into a portal to another world. Aside from the shocking death, mostly a filler episode setting up what looks like a big Winter Final (ugg) with a battle on the Inhuman planet. The big question is if they are able to bring back Simmons' astronaut buddy and will the big bad Inhuman comes back too. My prediction: they are the same person!!!!
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Survivor: Second Chances: I know you have to say anything to make it three more days when you think you are on the bottom, but Joe's "We should vote out the person everyone wants to sit next to at Final Tribal" has to be the worst pitch in Survivor history. How about pointing out how the person who dominates the Immunity Challenges never win the game?
You can download Survivor: Second Chance on iTunes.

Nashville: The daughters are really starting to get annoying. I know teenagers are annoying and moody in real life but do television writers realize how painful it is to watch them on television? Teenagers on television have not always been this annoying. I blame the annoying people who are constantly harping on things not being realistic, which I think started when people started pointing out Jack Bower never went to the bathroom once over the course of twenty-four hours or ever got stuck in Los Angeles traffic. These this did not happen because it made for bad television.And as realistic as annoying teenagers are, it is time to ban them from television.

The Wiz Live!: Well that was significantly better than the previous two musicals even if there was a visible camera in the first scene. Which I guess was not too hard because Carrie Underwood cannot act, Allison Williams was horribly miscast and Christopher Walken may have been asleep the whole time. Mary J. Blige pretty much stole the show with maybe the most over the top acting ever put to film. Maybe NBC should do Wicked next and let Mary reprise her role. Granted, if I were the guy in charge, I would still throw all the money I could at Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling for a live production of Guys and Dolls, with Kristen Bell and Jason Street in the supporting roles. Of course now we do not have to wait another year for the next musical because next month Fox is putting on Grease Live. Cannot wait. We are truly living the the greatest era for cheesy entertainment since the eighties.

Friday, December 04, 2015

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Telenovela, Flight Before Christmas, The Hateful Eight Soundtrack, The Santa Barbara International Film Festival, In Performance: Christmas Under the Stars, Miraculous, Newtown, Austin City Limits, Major Crimes, Rizzoli & Isles, Outside Television, Gigolos, TruTV, and You're the Worst.

- Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) stars in Telenovala, a big, fun and flashy half-hour comedy as Ana Sofia, the star of a popular Spanish language soap opera. One problem, she doesn't speak any Spanish. Other problems? Ana must manage a new boss, jealous castmates and high-maintenance best friends - and that's all before her ex-husband is hired as her new on-screen love interest. Just like a real telenovela, this comedy is full of all kinds of drama, including love, hate, life and even death! Despite all the chaos, this telenovela's cast and crew is a family... or, at least, they try to be.

- Flight Before Christmas, Saturday at 8:00 on Lifetime. Synopsis: Excited to take the next step in their relationship and move in with her boyfriend, Stephanie is crushed when he drops the bombshell that he wants to break up. Faced with spending the holidays heartbroken and homeless, she decides to fly home to Connecticut. On a red-eye the day before Christmas, Stephanie finds herself seated next to Michael, who is planning to propose to his college girlfriend. The two get off to a rocky start but things get even worse when the pilot announces that a huge, unexpected snowstorm is crossing the country. Their flight is diverted to a small town in Montana where Stephanie snags the last available room at the town’s bed and breakfast. Despite their differences, she offers to share the room with Michael and try their best to get along.

- Quentin Tarantino and Decca Records today announced the release of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight original motion picture soundtrack. The soundtrack will be available for purchase on CD, vinyl, and at digital retail worldwide via Decca Records on December 18, 2015. Third Man Records will also release an exclusive vinyl edition of the soundtrack in the United States. The Double 180 gram LP will include a tri-fold reversible jacket with a soft touch finish, 60"x12" poster, 36"x12" poster, and 12-page booklet insert with stills from the film. The Hateful Eight film will be released on December 25, 2015 screening exclusively in glorious Ultra Panavision 70 mm film and will open wide on January 8, 2016. Pre-order links for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight Original Motion Picture Soundtrack can be found below:DeccaThird Man Records

- The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is proud to present the 2016 Outstanding Performers of the Year award to both Brie Larson and Saoirse Ronan on Monday February 8, SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling announced today. This is the first time the award will be given to two honorees. Both Larson and Ronan had previously been awarded the festival’s Virtuoso Award, in 2014 and 2010 respectively. The duo will be celebrated for their remarkable performances in Room and Brooklyn. The 2016 festival is the 31st year of the festival, which will run February 3 to February 13, 2016. For more information, and to purchase tickets, festival passes and packages, please visit sbiff.org.

- With the Christmas season in full swing, prepare to tune in, this Sunday, with the whole family as Gentri -the Gentleman's Trio- join 13-year old Lexi Mae Walker for a celebration of Christmas music and the true meaning of Christmas. Filmed on location at an old Jerusalem replica set, the one-hour special, In Performance: Christmas Under the Stars, airs on Sunday, December 6 at 5pm MT/7pm ET on BYUtv, and also features The Snow College Chamber Orchestra, The Snow College Cadence Chamber Choir, The American Heritage Youth Chorus, and other musical guests.

- On Sunday, December 6 at noon ET/PT, Nickelodeon will broadcast the premiere episode of the all-new 3D CGI-animated, action-sitcom series, Miraculous. The 26-episode series, which will air every Sunday at noon ET/PT, is owned and produced by ZAG, under its Zag Heroez umbrella. The series tells the story of a charismatic girl who transforms into a courageous, vivacious superhero named Ladybug and saves the day to restore happiness and peace for the citizens of Paris. While making its first appearance in the U.S. this December, Miraculous has already debuted in France and Korea, attaining consistent number one ratings across all kids shows week over week. Series premieres will continue to roll-out globally, in 120+ markets worldwide over the next three months.

- Filmed over the course of nearly three years, the film-makers use unique access and never before heard testimonies to tell a story of the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting of schoolchildren in American history. Newtown documents a traumatized community fractured by grief and driven toward a sense of purpose. Joining the ranks of a growing club to which no one wants to belong, a cast of characters interconnect to weave an intimate story of community resilience. The film will have a national broadcast on PBS in 2016. It will also be screened at additional film festivals, followed by a theatrical release, community and school screenings nationwide along with educational, international and digital distribution.

- The landmark television music series Austin City Limits (ACL) announces the second half of Season 41, with seven brand-new shows to begin airing in January 2016 as part of the program’s fourteen-episode season. ACL has featured some of the most iconic performances in live music for over four decades, and continues with an ever more diverse line-up showcasing the most original and relevant music of today. The program returns on Saturday, January 2nd at 8:00, ringing in the new year with a new installment featuring the return of powerhouse rockers Alabama Shakes and the debut of soul revivalists Vintage Trouble. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings for times) and full episodes are made available online for a limited time at video.pbs.org/ immediately following the initial broadcast. The show's official hashtag is #acltv. Here is the full lineup:

- Television's favorite detectives will be back on the case in February as TNT presents
all-new episodes of the hit series Major Crimes and Rizzoli & Isles. Major Crimes is set to kick off its winter episodes on Monday, Feb. 15, at 9:00, with Mary McDonnell, G.W. Bailey and Tony Denison leading the exceptional ensemble cast. The following day, Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander will return in Rizzoli & Isles, which will start its winter run Tuesday, Feb. 16, with back-to-back episodes beginning at 9:00.

- Outside Television, America’s only television network for people who share a deep passion for the active, adventure lifestyle, is expanding its reach today as it launches on Sony PlayStation Vue. PlayStation Vue is a new cloud-based TV service bringing subscribers live television, movies and sports through the PlayStation platform. With this launch, Outside Television will be available on the Vue platform in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas, and Miami markets. Outside Television is available nationwide through various providers including DISH Network, Comcast XFINITY, Cox Communications, RCN, The National Cable Television Cooperative, CenturyLink PRISM TV and Google Fiber.

- The boys are back in town! The sexy Showtimes unscripted series Gigolos returns with eight half-hour episodes on Thursday, March 17th at 11:00. The Gigolos are heading back to Las Vegas to spotlight the sultry, salacious antics of fan favorites: Nick, Brace, Vin, Ash and Bradley (and Guerin, their booker). For a sneak peek at the new season, go to YouTube.

- Placing an even bigger bet on the scripted arena, truTV has ordered a second season of its first scripted series Those Who Can’t three months in advance of the show’s launch – an unprecedented move for the network. In addition, truTV has also ordered two pilots and a pilot script from several established comedic talents, including Dean Lorey (Arrested Development, The Crazy Ones), comedian Tom Segura and also Melissa Hunter (Adult Wednesday Addams). This flurry of scripted activity comes as truTV celebrates momentum on the first anniversary of its “Way More Fun” branding.

- FXX has ordered a third season of the critically-acclaimed comedy You’re the Worst from Creator and Executive Producer Stephen Falk, who has reached an overall deal to develop and produce projects for FX Networks and FX Productions, it was announced today by Nick Grad and Eric Schrier, Presidents of Original Programming for FX Networks and FX Productions. The third season of You’re the Worst will air on FXX in summer 2016. The multi-year overall deal will enable Falk to write, develop and produce television projects for FX Networks and FX Productions.

Monday, November 30, 2015

ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas, cable’s biggest programming event of the year, returns with 25 continuous days of holiday-themed entertainment for the whole family. From December 1 – 25, viewers can ring in the holidays with holiday specials, classic holiday movies, and returning favorites. ABC Family is becoming Freeform in January 2016.

This year, 25 Days of Christmas will feature classic Jim Henson Christmas specials The Bells of Fraggle Rock and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, which have been remastered and are returning to television after several years. Additionally, December 13 features a marathon of Disney∙Pixar’s Toy Story films. Also, the network will air Beyond the Shadows: The Making of Shadowhunters, which gives an inside look at the upcoming saga series.